Andy Devaney
If Dublin feels a bit too quiet these days, you’re not imagining things. Blame it on 28 Days Leinster—the clever new spoof from Canterbury that merges Irish rugby pride with cult cinema chills.
With a record-breaking 12 Leinster players selected for the British & Irish Lions Tour—more than triple that of any other club—the capital’s suddenly got the atmosphere of a post-apocalyptic ghost town. And Canterbury has run with that eerie stillness all the way to the editing suite.
The short film, 28 Days Leinster, is a spot-on parody of the iconic 2002 horror 28 Days Later, and arrives just as fans whip themselves into a frenzy over the long-awaited 28 Years Later sequel. The timing? Impeccable. The tone? Equal parts ominous and tongue-in-cheek.
In the spoof, a dazed young man wakes up and roams through an unnervingly empty Dublin—silent streets, abandoned bridges, not a soul in sight.
Sound familiar? That’s because the film lovingly mirrors the opening scenes of Danny Boyle’s original, right down to the haunting hospital gown stroll immortalised by Cillian Murphy.
Only this time, the city hasn’t fallen to a rage virus. It’s just rugby-mad Ireland doing what it does best—sending its finest off to battle (sporting, of course) in the southern hemisphere.
“We wanted to have some fun with the fact that so many Irish players had been selected for the squad,” said Stuart Crossman, Head of Brand at Canterbury.
“Tapping into an iconic piece of film history felt like a perfect match, a quiet Dublin, and a cultural moment everyone’s talking about.”
And he’s not wrong. 28 Days Leinster hits that sweet spot between sports nostalgia and pop culture reverence. It’s playful, it’s timely, and it nails the surreal quietude of a city temporarily robbed of its sporting heartbeat.
The campaign’s already doing the rounds on social media—and let’s be honest, it’s got people properly buzzing. Some are cracking up, others just quietly impressed, but either way, it’s landed.
It’s equal parts rugby love letter and cheeky piss-take, tipping its hat to Ireland’s total dominance while pointing out, in the most brilliantly bizarre way, what happens when half your squad buggers off to the other side of the world.
As anticipation builds for the Lions Tour and 28 Years Later alike, 28 Days Leinster gives fans something to laugh about while they count down the days to kick-off.
Rugby may have left town—but Canterbury’s clever take proves the spirit of sport (and satire) is very much alive.
